26 Percent of Vehicles in Dallas County Are Uninsured

According to the Dallas Morning News, more than one in four vehicles in Dallas County are uninsured, the highest percentage in any of the state’s large urban counties. Despite efforts over the years to encourage or force Texas drivers to maintain liability insurance, the percentage of uninsured drivers has remained relatively constant.

This is a continuing source of frustration for our law firm as we try to help accident victims. Far too often we try to help an injured person, only to discover that the driver at fault had no insurance (and no assets), and that our client did not have uninsured motorist coverage. We urge all Texas drivers first to get liability insurance, but second, to add uninsured motorist coverage to your auto policy. The additional cost is small, but this coverage could be your only protection if you are in a collision with a driver who has no liability insurance. If you have any questions about auto insurance coverage, please contact our office. You can also visit our Web site at KraftLaw.com for additional information on this subject. Here are excerpts from the Dallas Morning News article....

Kraft & Associates 2777 Stemmons Freeway Suite 1300 Dallas, Texas 75207 Toll Free: (800) 989-9999 FAX: (214) 637-2118 E-mail: info@kraftlaw.com 26 Percent of Vehicles in Dallas County Are Uninsured Written On December 10, 2009 By Bob Kraft According to the Dallas Morning News, more than one in four vehicles in Dallas County are uninsured, the highest percentage in any of the state’s large urban counties. Despite efforts over the years to encourage or force Texas drivers to maintain liability insurance, the percentage of uninsured drivers has remained relatively constant. This is a continuing source of frustration for our law firm as we try to help accident victims. Far too often we try to help an injured person, only to discover that the driver at fault had no insurance (and no assets), and that our client did not have uninsured motorist coverage. We urge all Texas drivers first to get liability insurance, but second, to add uninsured motorist coverage to your auto policy. The additional cost is small, but this coverage could be your only protection if you are in a collision with a driver who has no liability insurance. If you have any questions about auto insurance coverage, please contact our office. You can also visit our Web site at KraftLaw.com for additional information on this subject. Here are excerpts from the Dallas Morning News article: The figures, pulled from the database of the new TexasSure vehicle insurance verification program, also showed that 4.1 million cars and trucks – 22 percent of all vehicles statewide – lack basic liability coverage and are in violation of a state law that requires insurance. In Dallas County, 26 percent of the vehicles on the road, or nearly 482,000 cars and trucks, don’t have insurance. In Tarrant County, 21 percent lack insurance. Kraft & Associates 2777 Stemmons Freeway Suite 1300 Dallas, Texas 75207 Toll Free: (800) 989-9999 FAX: (214) 637-2118 E-mail: info@kraftlaw.com The figures did not include commercial vehicles, which are not yet covered under the TexasSure program. Jerry Hagins, a spokesman for the Insurance Department, said letters are being sent to about 100,000 drivers who are believed to have insurance policies but do not have their vehicle registration numbers matched up with an insurance company in the state database. They are being asked to verify their coverage by mail, e-mail or telephone. Once the information from those drivers is compiled, the state will send warnings to millions of drivers without insurance that they are breaking state law. The insurance verification program, launched a year ago, relies on a massive database containing the names of all insured drivers and their insurance companies – matched to their license plate numbers and VINs. When a driver is involved in an accident or stopped for an infraction, the law enforcement officer can enter the license plate number or VIN into the TexasSure system to verify insurance coverage. In addition, the data is available to county tax assessor-collectors who can use it to confirm whether a driver has insurance before issuing or renewing a registration sticker. Those who lack insurance are ticketed, subject to a fine of up $350 for the first offense and up to $1,000 for the second offense. Those who rack up multiple offenses and take no action are subject to arrest. Funded by an annual $1 fee added to vehicle registrations, the program is intended to crack down on the millions of drivers who are violating the state’s mandatory insurance law – forcing other drivers to carry extra insurance to protect themselves. The insurance industry estimates that Texas drivers shell out nearly $1 billion a year to protect themselves from those without coverage. Kraft & Associates 2777 Stemmons Freeway Suite 1300 Dallas, Texas 75207 Toll Free: (800) 989-9999 FAX: (214) 637-2118 E-mail: info@kraftlaw.com Texas has had a financial responsibility law requiring drivers to buy insurance for several years. The minimum policy must contain liability coverage to pay for injuries and damages caused by the driver. Even though proof of insurance must be furnished to get a license renewal or safety inspection, enforcement of the law has been difficult. Millions of motorists skirt the requirement by using counterfeit proof-of-insurance cards or obtaining a month’s coverage of insurance to get an ID card, only to cancel the policy once they get their licenses renewed. To combat the problem locally, more cities – including several in North Texas – have implemented programs to penalize uninsured drivers by towing their cars. Among them are Arlington, Dallas, DeSoto, Garland, Irving and Mesquite. Those plans – which generally call for vehicles of uninsured drivers to be towed if they are stopped on a traffic violation or involved in an accident – got a boost when the state verification program was launched. A study conducted for the Insurance Department last year indicated that in the 27 states that use a similar insurance verification system, the average percentage of uninsured motorists before the program was about 26 percent. After it was implemented, the percentage of motorists without insurance dropped below 10 percent.

Latest Posts

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.

Privacy Policy (Updated: October 8, 2015):

hide

JD Supra provides users with access to its legal industry publishing services (the "Service") through its website (the "Website") as well as through other sources. Our policies with regard to data collection and use of personal information of users of the Service, regardless of the manner in which users access the Service, and visitors to the Website are set forth in this statement ("Policy"). By using the Service, you signify your acceptance of this Policy.

The information and data collected is used to authenticate users and to send notifications relating to the Service, including email alerts to which users have subscribed; to manage the Service and Website, to improve the Service and to customize the user's experience. This information is also provided to the authors of the content to give them insight into their readership and help them to improve their content, so that it is most useful for our users.

JD Supra does not sell, rent or otherwise provide your details to third parties, other than to the authors of the content on JD Supra.

If you prefer not to enable cookies, you may change your browser settings to disable cookies; however, please note that rejecting cookies while visiting the Website may result in certain parts of the Website not operating correctly or as efficiently as if cookies were allowed.

Email Choice/Opt-out

Users who opt in to receive emails may choose to no longer receive e-mail updates and newsletters by selecting the "opt-out of future email" option in the email they receive from JD Supra or in their JD Supra account management screen.

Security

JD Supra takes reasonable precautions to insure that user information is kept private. We restrict access to user information to those individuals who reasonably need access to perform their job functions, such as our third party email service, customer service personnel and technical staff. However, please note that no method of transmitting or storing data is completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of user information. Unauthorized entry or use, hardware or software failure, and other factors may compromise the security of user information at any time.

If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, you must immediately notify us of the problem by contacting us at info@jdsupra.com. In the unlikely event that we believe that the security of your user information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you of that development and, if so, will endeavor to do so as promptly as practicable under the circumstances.

Sharing and Disclosure of Information JD Supra Collects

Except as otherwise described in this privacy statement, JD Supra will not disclose personal information to any third party unless we believe that disclosure is necessary to: (1) comply with applicable laws; (2) respond to governmental inquiries or requests; (3) comply with valid legal process; (4) protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of JD Supra, users of the Service, Website visitors or the public; (5) permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain; and (6) enforce our Terms & Conditions of Use.

In the event there is a change in the corporate structure of JD Supra such as, but not limited to, merger, consolidation, sale, liquidation or transfer of substantial assets, JD Supra may, in its sole discretion, transfer, sell or assign information collected on and through the Service to one or more affiliated or unaffiliated third parties.

Links to Other Websites

This Website and the Service may contain links to other websites. The operator of such other websites may collect information about you, including through cookies or other technologies. If you are using the Service through the Website and link to another site, you will leave the Website and this Policy will not apply to your use of and activity on those other sites. We encourage you to read the legal notices posted on those sites, including their privacy policies. We shall have no responsibility or liability for your visitation to, and the data collection and use practices of, such other sites. This Policy applies solely to the information collected in connection with your use of this Website and does not apply to any practices conducted offline or in connection with any other websites.

Changes in Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time. Please refer to the date at the top of this page to determine when this Policy was last revised. Any changes to our privacy policy will become effective upon posting of the revised policy on the Website. By continuing to use the Service or Website following such changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, as it may be amended from time to time, in whole or part, please do not continue using the Service or the Website.

Contacting JD Supra

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, your dealings with this Web site, or if you would like to change any of the information you have provided to us, please contact us at: info@jdsupra.com.

- hide

*With LinkedIn, you don't need to create a separate login to manage your free JD Supra account, and we can make suggestions based on your needs and interests. We will not post anything on LinkedIn in your name. Or, sign up using your email address.